The Essex-based house builder will get £114m from the IPO, of which £64m will be used to pay down debt and £50m will go towards investment.

Private equity owner Oaktree Capital Management and other shareholders will get £174m from the share sale.

The company is split into two halves: one is a traditional housebuilder developing large scale sites, while the other side of the company partners with local authorities to build private and affordable housing on public sector land.

Ian Sutcliffe, the chief executive, said that the company was benefitting from government-backed schemes, such as Help to Buy London. He said: "I can only assume it's going to be very positive for us".

He said that the numbers of people reserving property has jumped by about 50pc on sites in London, although added that this may be house hunters who had been waiting for the scheme to start at the behinning of February. 90pc of the company's housing stock in London is under £600,000, which is the highest amount allowed under the scheme, and most is located in the outer areas of the capital in zones three to six.

He added that 25pc of investors will come from the United States and continental Europe.

Founded in 1958, Countryside was previously listed between 1972 and 2005.

David Howell, chairman, said: "The announcement today is a significant moment in the 58-year history of Countryside.

"I would like to welcome all our new shareholders and thank all my colleagues for their hard work in reaching this important milestone. We look forward with confidence on the next stage of our development as a listed business."

Mr Sutcliffe said he believes there is big potential on the urban regeneration side of the business, which often partners with local authorities to develop unused brownfield sites.

A recent report by Savills which emphasised the importance of regeneration of local authority land, as well as an announcment by Prime Minister David Cameron pledging to transform housing estates across the country, has boosted Countryside's regeneration arm.

Mr Sutcliffe said: "we have seen a tremendous growth in this side of our business, and we have a very secure order book looking towards the next five or six years".

Countryside's sites are mostly in the outer London boroughs and counties surrounding the M25, as well as in the north west of England.

The group is four years into a 15-year project in Acton in West London, where 1,800 homes are being replaced with 2,850 homes. These will be a mixture of affordable, private rented and private for sale.